Regulator go-ahead gives Nokia control of Alcatel-Lucent

Nokia‘s bid for Alcatel-Lucent has been declared successful, with the networking giant taking control of nearly 80 percent of its former rival.

Autorité des Marché Financiers, the French stock market authority, declared Nokia’s offer successful in a statement as it published the interim results of the initial offer period. Nokia will now hold 79.32 percent of the share capital and at least 78.97 percent of the voting rights of Alcatel-Lucent.

The offer’s completion was subject to the number of Alcatel-Lucent securities validly tendered in it representing over 50 percent of the shares on a fully diluted basis, a condition which has been met.

Nokia said in a statement that it intends to squeeze out the remaining shares if it reaches 95 percent ownership of share capital and voting rights of Alcatel-Lucent.

Rajeev Suri, President and CEO of Nokia, said: "We will move quickly to combine the two companies and execute our integration plans.

"We will have unparalleled R&D and innovation capabilities, which we will use to lead the world in creating next-generation technology and services."

Suri added that the two companies would offer an end-to-end portfolio from 14 January 2015.

Nokia plans to carry out a €7 billion programme to optimise its capital structure, which will see around €4 billion in distributions to Nokia shareholders.

In the global networking market, according to figures from Gartner from April 2015, Ericsson held roughly 17 percent of the market while Huawei held 16.1 percent. The combination of Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia, with shares of 8.7 percent and 8.2 percent respectively, will make them a comparable player.